Break
By Adam Levon Brown
Published by Poetic Justice Books 2019
64 pages
$12 paperback
ISBN: 978-1-950433-03-2
Book reviewed by Kavita Khajuria.
“My fingers dance across delusional
ballrooms, skipping
rope with my synapses”
This book is a powerful narrative – it lifts the tip of the iceberg to expose the cataclysmic realities of mental illness. Themes include trauma and abuse, isolation and suicide, and hopelessness and gratitude – with tones of despair, desolation and resignation.
Emotional scars are communicated in visceral depth. Most striking are the psychotic and depressive experiences, which translate as highly educational and an invocation to empathy. Readers can observe the resonating psychic pain as well as moments of gratitude and glimmers of hope. The triple entendre with parental mental illnesses compound the weight, yet it’s clear in this case that certain bonds can never die in spite of mental illness. It’s a moving experience, and a validation of the human spirit.
Serotonin 